Raven Leverett
Features Editor
Whether riding on Space Mountain at Disney or visiting under sea friends at the Florida Aquarium sparks your interest, there a several opportunities this year for students to make memories.
Discover Florida is run through the Center of Student Involvement. Many students already say that the program is offering better trips this year than in the past.
ACE member Ryan Towne says several ACE members help out with these trips. Some of them assist in checking-in students while others just direct the students and hand-out emergency contact paperwork.
Lindsay Petry, a Residential Director for Barnett Hall, is hoping to use some of these trips as RA staff bonding trips because some of them are free.
Magic Kingdom kicks off the Discover Florida trips on August 30. The cost for students is $75 per person. This cost covers the ticket, transportation, and two meal vouchers.
Some of the other trips this year include: Westfield Mall, Universal Studios, zip lining tours, SeaWorld, Halloween Horror Nights, Island Boat Adventures in St. Petersburg, and shopping trips to various plazas throughout Florida.
For majority of these trips there is only limited access. Students can register to attend this events on the Florida Southern website under the Discover Florida section.
A lot of the trips offered “behind the scenes tours.” On the trip to the Florida Aquarium, Florida Southern College students had the opportunity to go on a tour that displayed where divers go into the shark tank and what kinds of food the different animals eat. Some animals even eat horse meat, the students surprisingly learned.
“It was not exactly what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed learning about the sea turtles,” freshman Christine Kenney said.
Some students even go on these trips to celebrate their birthdays. As did Samantha Circelli this past weekend at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa. Her and some of her Gamma Phi Beta sisters wore raised letters to show their spirit.
Currently, SeaWorld and Universal Studios are already sold out. There are still openings available for the shopping trips or to go zip lining. Students need to make reservations quickly. Simply go on to the Florida Southern website to make reservations.
